1472 results for "Biography"

The Geraldo show: a memoir

Rivera, Geraldo
During my half a century in public life, my image and reputation have had more ups and downs than the Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island. I have been called savior and sinner, fool and wise man, crusader and exploiter, hothead and dope. I am routinely scorned, admired, beloved, and belittled—which one is usually based on when the viewer tuned in. Were you around for my early days as a crusading local newsman? Did you waste an evening with me inside Al Capone's empty vault? Were you watching when the bombs dropped in Afghanistan or Iraq, or did you tune in to the raucous talk show when my nose was broken in the best television studio brawl ever caught on tape? Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and my employment by the conservative rabble-rousers of Fox News—and, more recently, with the coming of the Age of Trump—my professional life has been even more difficult to define. How could a sincerely progressive native-born Jew-Rican New Yorker like me ever work for an outfit better suited to the vibes of Orange County, California, the Dixie, Appalachia, or the Mountain West? How could I not condemn and obstruct a wrecking ball like Donald Trump? Over five decades, I have met most of the era's good and bad guys, from Ronald Reagan to Charles Manson, Fidel Castro to Yasser Arafat, Muhammad Ali to John Lennon, and Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson. Two figure heavily in this book, both longtime friends: Roger Ailes, the disgraced yet undeniably brilliant creator of Fox News; and Donald Trump, once a flamboyant playboy, billionaire businessman, and now 45th President of the United States. At the vigorous twilight of a long and largely improvised life lived in plain sight, I have little left to prove. Faced with a series of random chances, for better and worse, what I made of my life is what I made of those chances. Time has enlightened and humbled me. Sincerely, Geraldo Rivera
BenBella Books, Inc 2018-04-03 366 pages

Underwriting democracy: encouraging free enterprise and democratic reform among the Soviets and in Eastern Europe

Soros, George
George Soros has done more for open societies than any other private citizen in the world. In Underwriting Democracy he describes his experiences helping to bring about democratic change in Eastern Europe—experiences that are especially relevant now that our country has begun to intervene (though in an entirely different way than Soros) to create functioning democracies. Throughout the 1980s George Soros worked to identify and fund the growing political movements that caused the downfall of Eastern Europe's Communist governments. He established foundations, first in his native Hungary, and then in eight other countries, and used them to finance everything from the installation of previously forbidden copying machines in public libraries to the creation of experimental schools, clubs, and workshops for the support of dissidents. This unprecedented, and brilliant, financial and logistical support helped to bring down the communist regimes in peaceful revolutions across the continent. These are thrilling stories about facing down—and getting past—the Communist party powers in order to change these nations from the inside out .
Public Affairs 2004-04-07 258 pages

Ma lineal: a memoir of race, activism, and queer family

Holsaert, Faith S.
An inspiring memoir about love, race, identity, and contested narratives told with unflinching mettle. Through her childhood spent in 1940s New York being raised by two mothers, her work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement, and raising her own children in the coalfields of West Virginia, Faith S. Holsaert has been defined by the intertwined forces of race, activism, and family. As a young woman on the front line of the Civil Rights Movement, she learned the power of contested narratives and came to understand her whiteness, her queer identity, and her stakes in overturning racism. Later in life, she confronted sexual abuse and mental illness across three generations of women in her family to find that these painful histories have played a significant role in the development of her identity as a woman, activist, and mother. Through a lifetime laid bare in prose and poetry, Holsaert beautifully quilts memoir, social history, and historic events into a gripping and inspirational narrative. This powerful and structurally innovative work lends new categories of meaning to those who would strive to find their place, hope, and sense of belonging in efforts to fight against systemic racism and lead lives characterized by openness and love.
Wayne State University Press 2024 303 pages

The enemy within: terror, lies, and the whitewashing of Omar Khadr

Levant, Ezra
A controversial look at the headline-making story of the last Western prisoner at Guantanamo Bay and the larger implications to national security, justice, and international relations. Omar Khadr is the last Western prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, and has been held at the American naval base since October 2002, accused of killing a U.S. sergeant in Afghanistan. Levant takes a provocative look at the definition of "child soldier," life at Guantanamo Bay, the media coverage of the case, and the Canadian government's plan for Omar Khadr's rehabilitation upon his return to Canada.
McClelland & Stewart 2011 250 pages

Chronicles of my life: an American in the heart of Japan

Keene, Donald
Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with an account of his bittersweet childhood in New York; then he describes his initial encounters with Asia and Europe and the way in which World War II complicated that experience. He captures the sights, scents, and sounds of Japan as they first enveloped him, and talks of the unique travels and well-known intellectuals who later shaped the contours of his academic career. --from publisher description.
Columbia University Press 2008 196 pages

Lincoln and Whitman: parallel lives in Civil War Washington

Epstein, Daniel Mark
Kindred spirits despite their profound differences in position, Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman shared a vision of the democratic character. They had read or listened to each other’s words at crucial turning points in their lives, and both were utterly transformed by the tragedy of the Civil War. In this radiant book, poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein tracks the parallel lives of these two titans from the day that Lincoln first read Leaves of Grass to the elegy Whitman composed after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. Drawing on a rich trove of personal and newspaper accounts and diary records, Epstein shows how the influence and reverence flowed between these two men–and brings to life the many friends and contacts they shared. Epstein has written a masterful portrait of two great American figures and the era they shaped through words and deeds.
Random House 2005-01-11 379 pages

The game show king: a confession

Barris, Chuck
Chuck Barris reinvented television. And when he was through, he moved to the south of France. This memoir is about becoming king of the game show and why Peter Mayle got it all wrong. So how does a boy from south Philadelphia, the fellow who created the Dating Game, the Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show find happiness on the Cote d' Azur - especially if he fractures the language, is homesick for football, and knows in his heart of hearts that he's got at least one more prime-time hit in him struggling for air time? Painfully candid, remarkably informative, and alive with spark, wit, and intelligence, this chronicle may well be the funniest confession ever written. The end began a few years ago with the Popsicle Twins, an act performed by a pair of nubile Valley Girls on the Gong Show that almost shut down NBC. Chuck Barris was not only the creator and producer of the program, he was also its host, and therefore, the man responsible. He had, finally, gone too far. So, he sold Chuck Barris Productions and decamped with his beautiful wife to the hills above Saint-Tropez. He soon had a villa, a classic speedboat, lots of unwanted guests, and was being kicked toward the conclusion that the charm of the country would be considerably enhanced if one could only figure out how to get rid of the French people. The new beginning ended when Chuck Barris realized that having all your dreams come true isn't what it's cracked up to be. So, back to Los Angeles and the real dream-makers. Can't a guy who wrote a rock and roll standard, a guy who made himself into a champion boule player make the legend live again? The answer to that, and to why Bill Clinton would rather talk with Nicole Kidman (Mrs. TomCruise), can be found in these pages, a confession that would make St. Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau envious. But before then, in 1972, Chuck Barris wrote a love story (You and Me Babe, which spent seven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list). At that time he was the most successful television producer in America. Now he's older, smarter, and a lot richer, and what he admits to here could only come from someone very much his own man.
Carroll & Graf 1993 301 pages

Killing me softly: my life in music

Fox, Charles
Charles Fox has composed more than 100 motion picture and television scores, among them the themes of many iconic series, including Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Love, American Style, and Love Boat. Twice nominated for the Academy Award and a two-time Emmy winner, Fox has also written music for the concert hall and the ballet. Among the hundreds of songs he has written is the Grammy Award-winning "Killing Me Softly with His Song," a number one record in just about every country in the world, by two different artists: Roberta Flack in 1973 and the Fugees, 20 years later. In this memoir, Fox recounts his development as a musician, beginning with his formal music education in Paris. From letters he wrote home between 1959 and 1961, Fox recounts his studies under the tutelage of the most renowned music composition teacher of the 20th century, Nadia Boulanger, whose influence Fox carried throughout his entire professional career. Following his return to the states, Fox describes the cornerstone events of his musical and personal life. He reflects on the highlights of his career, working with some of the greatest names in entertainment, film, television, and records, including Jim Croce, Barry Manilow, Lena Horne, and Fred Astaire. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004 and a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Composers & Lyricists, Fox's memoir is a compelling story of a musician and composer whose work continues to entertain and inspire listeners around the world.
Scarecrow Press 2010-08-27 293 pages

I'll drink to that: a life in style, with a twist

Halbreich, Betty
Eighty-six-year-old Betty Halbreich is a true original. A tough broad who could have stepped straight out of Stephen Sondheim's repertoire, she has spent nearly forty years as the legendary personal shopper at Bergdorf Goodman, where she works with socialites, stars, and ordinary women off the street. She has helped many find their true selves through clothes, frank advice, and her own brand of wisdom. She is trusted by the most discriminating persons--including Hollywood's top stylists--to tell them what looks best. But Halbreich's personal transformation from a cosseted young girl to a fearless truth teller is the greatest makeover of her career. A Chicago native, Halbreich moved to Manhattan at twenty after marrying the dashing Sonny Halbreich, a true character right out of Damon Runyon who liked the nightlife of New York in the fifties. On the surface, they were a great match, but looks can be deceiving; an unfaithful Sonny was emotionally distant while Halbreich became increasingly anguished. After two decades, the fraying marriage finally came undone. Bereft without Sonny and her identity as his wife, she hit rock bottom. After she began the frightening process of reclaiming herself and started therapy, Halbreich was offered a lifeline in the form of a job at the legendary luxury store Bergdorf Goodman. Soon, she was asked to run the store's first personal shopping service. It was a perfect fit. Meticulous, impeccable, hardworking, elegant, and--most of all--delightfully funny, Halbreich has never been afraid to tell it to her clients straight. She won't sell something just to sell it. If an outfit or shoe or purse is too expensive, she'll dissuade you from buying it. As Halbreich says, "There are two things nobody wants to face: their closet and their mirror." She helps women do both, every day.
The Penguin Press 2014 272 pages

Original story by -: a memoir of Broadway and Hollywood

Laurents, Arthur
(Applause Books). Here is the original story of a true original, the celebrated and internationally renowned director, playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, whose creative genius continues to energize American stage and screen today. Say his name, and images of West Side Story , Gypsy, Anastasia, The Turning Point , and The Way We Were appear. Laurents' highly praised memoir is a dazzling portrait of his life as he recounts the great moments, the trials and the joys of his incredible career. He takes us into his world, peopled with the creative artists, directors, actors and personalities who came of age in the theatre and in Hollywood after WWII. Later, back in New York, he writes about jump-starting Barbra Streisand's career by casting her in I Can Get It for You Wholesale . He writes about the creation of Gypsy with Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim. And he writes about coming together in a complex, fraught collaboration with his three old pals, Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein and Sondheim for West Side Story . Throughout, Laurents is funny, fierce, and frank a life recounted as richly as it was lived. "This is a historic work. A 'must' for show biz mavens." LIZ SMITH, Newsday & Syndicated
Applause 2001-04 436 pages